HEAD coach Don Parsons pointed the finger at the match officials after Dorset & Wilts were dramatically denied a Twickenham hat-trick.

Twin Counties agonisingly missed out on a third consecutive trip to the capital following a last-gasp 24-22 defeat at Leicestershire.

The County Championship Shield holders saw their bid to complete a memorable treble fail after a late twist at Vipers Rugby Club on Saturday.

Trailing 22-17 going into the closing stages, hosts Leicestershire claimed victory deep into stoppage time when referee Luke Haskins awarded a match-winning penalty try following a series of powerful scrummages.

Parsons admitted Leicestershire’s strong pack had been effective but he claimed the holders should have been given more penalties.

He told the Daily Echo: “In the last 10 minutes, we were in our 22 and it was line out after line out and scrum after scrum. We were onside and they were standing up in the scrummage, piling over the top of the ruck off their feet and had their hands all over ball in the ruck.

“I felt a couple of penalties should have gone our way and we would have got away then, relieved the pressure and probably closed out the game.”

Parsons said he intended to contact Haskins to offer his feedback on the officials and added: “They are tasked with facilitating the game but they ruined it. I probably wouldn’t be saying that if we had won but it does come down to that sometimes.”

The Echo contacted referee Haskins yesterday but he did not offer a comment.

With 10 Bournemouth players in their XV, Dorset & Wilts got off to an ideal start when Lions winger Robbie Searle crossed for a converted try.

The home pack drove over from a line-out before Bournemouth centre Scott Chislett scored to hand Twin Counties a 14-7 interval lead.

Leicestershire’s strong forwards again responded to restore parity and the hosts then moved into the lead with a penalty.

Ben Stewart put the visitors back in front before an Adam Westall penalty increased the advantage to 22-17.

But during more than 10 minutes of injury time, Haskins awarded a series of penalties as the hosts’ powerful scrummaging took centre stage. He eventually gave the penalty try which ended Twin Counties’ hat-trick dreams.

Leicestershire will face Surrey at Twickenham next Sunday.